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Hahn’s Peak, Colorado, Old Gold Mining Town
By PK | October 27, 2008
“Go west, my man”, cried the old timer. “There’s gold in them hills!”
Hahn’s Peak
For centuries this land was summer range for bands of Ute Indians. Later, pathfinders, guides, explorers and fur trappers followed wild game trails and reported to the world the natural wealth and primitive beauty of the area.
Joseph Hahn and two unknown companions in 1862 discovered the first gold colors on Willow Creek whose water now feeds Hahn’s Peak Lake to the north, and then feeds nearby Steamboat Lake.
Steamboat Lake
In 1865, Joseph Hahn, William A. Doyle, and Captain George Way returned to find gold on every side of the peaks. In 1866, Hahn, Way, and Doyle and a company of prospectors organized the first mining district in northwest Colorado territory. Two early businesses in Hahn’s Peak were the Hahn’s Peak Gold & Silver Mining Company in 1874 and Hahn’s Peak Wagon Road Company in 1873.
Royal Flush Mine’s Dynamite shed
This industrial center in Hahn’s Peak basin rapidly led to a permanent settlement of the Snake, Yampa, and Elk River drainage. From 1878 to 1912, Hahn’s Peak was county seat of all the land which is now contained in Moffatt and Routt Counties, Colorado.
Wither Cabin
This cabin, circa 1880, was the home to the Wither Family where the first white settler was born. Below is a picture of the cabin before restoration.
The original jail is called the Bear Cage Jail, and the cages–aka jail cells–were used in Steamboat Springs for years after Hahn’s Peak was no longer the county seat. The cage now resides again in Hahn’s Peak where visitors can check out what jail cells were like in Colorado’s early days.
Famed outlaw Butch Cassidy spent a bit of time cooling his heals in the Bear Cage Jail early in his career. But perhaps this Bear Cage Jail wasn’t escape-proof, as this sign indicates, “Two Outlaws, Lant and Tracy, escaped March 1898″.
The Legacy of Tracy & Lant
By Shannan Koucherik
Brown’s Park, an isolated mountain valley west of Hahn’s Peak in Moffatt County, had become known as a wild place where outlaws could take shelter in the countless gorges and hidden valleys.
During the last week of February of 1898, officers of Routt County and Brown’s Park ranchers teamed up to capture notorious Harry Tracy and David Lant, murderer P.L.Johnstone and John Bennett, who was wanted for cattle rustling.
The Courier of March 12, 1898 carried the largest headline ever used in its history to announce the capture of the outlaws and the murder of one of Brown’s Park’s outstanding homesteaders, Valentine Hoy.
Officers made their way to Vermillion Creek and learned that a Wyoming man had been killed by one of the men they were looking for. With the help of a quickly formed posse, the officers found the outlaws’ camp at the head of Ladore Canyon. Horses and supplies were captured, but the subjects of the search had taken off.
Only one man was seen directly after the shooting and he was recognized as Harry Tracy, an escaped convict from the Utah Penitentiary. As the outlaws had the advantage, nothing could be accomplished toward their capture that day. The killing of Hoy made the citizens of Brown’s Park desperate.”
Hours after the shooting, John Bennett crossed paths with some of the homesteaders. Through a clever trick and some hard riding on the part of officers Neiman and Farnham, Bennett was taken into custody on the Bassett Ranch.
Farnham was left to guard the man, but was relieved of his duties by ten rifles pointed at him by masked men. The men threw a sack over Bennett’s head and told him to get ready to meet his maker. Without further ado, they then hanged Bennett from the cross bar of a corral gate.
While the lynching was going on, the rest of posse chased the remaining three outlaws another 60 miles before capturing them.
Tracy and Lant claimed innocence in Hoy’s murder, but officers were not convinced, and the pair was transported to the Hahn’s Peak jail to await trial.
They had been in the jail less than a month when they overpowered Sheriff Neiman, knocked him out, and locked him in a cell. They made their escape on two stage horses stolen from a nearby stable and stopped along the route to get saddles. They planned to catch the stage for Walcott to get out of the territory.
Tracy and Lant were waiting for the stage the next morning at the Laramore Ranch. They had evaded law officers before, and they were sure that they had done it again.
The stage pulled up in a swirl of dust and the two made ready to board. Their plans were quickly changed when they discovered that the passengers already on board included Sheriff Neiman and a deputy. There was nothing to be done but surrender peacefully.
The pair was sent to the jail in Aspen after their recapture. The new jail was considered one of the best in the state, and officials felt sure that it would hold Tracy and Lant.
It did hold them - for a couple of months, at least.
The Courier updated the story on June 25, 1898:
“The prisoners in some manner got possession of an iron bar and when jailer Jones went to remove the supper dishes, Lant struck him on the head with the bar, knocking him senseless. They bound and gagged the jailer and, after securing his gun waited for darkness. Sheriff Fisher missed the jailer and upon looking for him found himself confronting jailer Jones’ gun which was in the hands of Tracy.
“The Sheriff was unarmed and beat a hasty retreat. Before he could get his gun Lant and Tracy had escaped and at last accounts there was little chance for their capture.”
Tracy and Lant made their way northwest after their escape. Reports conflict about Lant’s end, but Tracy apparently died with his boots on. After a number of killings, he was finally cornered and shot himself rather than give up.
Brown’ Park residents didn’t miss their shady neighbors, and the ranches continued to prosper.
Hahn’s Peak hosted the first school and Post Office in the county, which is located 25 miles north of Steamboat Springs. The school house later became known as the ‘Little Green Schoolhouse’ and is on the National Register of Historical Places.
Little Green Schoolhouse
When the glory days were over, Hahn’s Peak became a ghost town. The miners and businesses dried up and blew away. The buildings remained. A homesteading ranch took over the entire area, and remained a working ranch into the 1960s.
Eventually people returned to Hahn’s Peak, some fixing up the old buildings, others building modern log cabins and homes.
Today Hahn’s Peak Village offers visitors a stroll through Colorado’s colorful past, and offers residents a peaceful and historic residential life.
The locals have opted to preserve the original quiet residential character of the town and shy away from the commercial tourism development typical of many old Colorado mountain towns.
I didn’t notice any signs posted, but beware, snowmobiles, ATVs and dirt bikes are not allowed in town, and the residents of Hahn’s Peak Village will voice strong disapproval to any violations.
The key to the town, actually the key to the School house and Museum, is available from Rilla Wiggins at “Things & Stuff”, a unique mountain gift shop.
The residents do ask that visitors not approach the old log cabins, or look through the windows, as these are their homes.
You can visit Hahn’s Peak Village by traveling Hwy 129, Elk River Road, approximately 25 miles north from Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
216.237.246.94
38.107.191.102
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Topics: Colorado |
2 Responses to “Hahn’s Peak, Colorado, Old Gold Mining Town”
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October 27th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
What a fascinating history this town has.From gold diggers and real violent wild west to the serene and cultured atmosphere that is now holds. It is good that tourism isn’t spoiling the surround with good bylaws put in by the residents. Thank you for sharing this PK.
October 29th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
I was going to invite myself right into one of those buildings…until you said others alread had! It’s beautiful, and we keep looking for our place to “stake our claim”…be off grid TOTALLY!
(seen any….other than that vacant cabin a few months back??) Sure wish times hadn’t changed so much over the past century